Germany aims to ensure confidence

Germany’s interior minister has promised to protect Turkish immigrants from future attacks by neo-Nazis and to shed light on every detail of the probe into the killings of eight Turks between 2000 and 2007.

Hans-Peter Friedrich said he had vowed to pursue the issue in comments to Turkey’s ambassador to Berlin, Ahmet Acet, saying this would be the duty owed to the victims, their families, migrants and German society.

Noting that the number of neo-Nazi numbers was growing in Germany, Friedrich said he was fighting against the movements because they saw violence as normal. “This is why I banned the largest neo-Nazi movement of ‘National solidarity organization for political prisoners’ in August.” Friedrich said Germany wanted immigrants and citizens with foreign origins to live in Germany in safety. “No one should doubt that the government would do anything to secure this.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that German security services made “numerous failures” by failing to catch a small band of neo-Nazis before they allegedly killed 10 people and promised the victims’ families a full investigation.

10,000 euros compensation offensive: families

Neo-Nazi cell is suspected of the 2007 slaying of a policewoman and the killing of nine minority community members over more than a decade. Meanwhile, Merkel also said she appreciated the proposal announced by the Justice Ministry spokesman Anders Mertzlufft on Nov. 20 that the government would draw from an existing fund earmarked to compensate victims with 10,000 euros.

However, some victims’ families condemned the compensation of 10,000 euros as “offensive.” Semiye Şimşek, the daughter of Enver Şimşek, who was killed by the neo-Nazi cell, said the compensation was offensively low. Noting that she did not need the money, Şimşek said the compensation might be good for the families in need, but that it was too low to compensate for their loss. “I see the compensations as admittance of making mistakes,” she added. İsmail Yozgat, father of Halit Yozgat, another Turk killed in the attacks, said 10,000 euros could not make up for his son’s death.

“I will not take this money. We have worked many years and earned money. I have been working since I came to Germany 39 years ago. We don’t want money from the German government. We want them to find and punish the murderers,” he said.

A Greek and a policewoman were also killed in the attacks.